Copy a table from a PDF into Excel (and keep the columns)

Copy-paste from a PDF gives you text lines, not cells – PDFs don't store tables, only text positioned on a page. Here's how to rebuild the columns.

Updated 2026-10-26 · 4 min read

Method 1: Paste, then Text to Columns

Select the table in the PDF viewer and copy.
Paste into column A.
Data › Text to Columns › Delimited (space) or Fixed width › Finish.

Works for numeric tables with single-word cells. Breaks when descriptions contain spaces (“Coffee Shop London” becomes three columns).

Method 2: Use the Text Import Wizard

Paste › the paste options icon › Use Text Import Wizard lets you set fixed-width column breaks visually. Better for statements where columns are aligned.

Method 3: Adobe Acrobat “Copy with formatting” / Export

Acrobat's export to Excel (paid) and some viewers' “copy as table” keep cells better. Results vary with how the PDF was produced.

Method 4: Read the layout, not the text

Columnry uses the position of each word on the page, so “Coffee Shop London” stays one cell and the amount stays in its own column. You can drag column lines on the page preview if a column is misread, then export Excel or CSV. It works on all pages at once.

Pitfalls with numbers

Thousands separators and decimal commas (1.234,56) may turn into text or wrong numbers – check your locale.
Negative amounts as “-”, brackets (12.00) or “CR/DR” need converting.
Dates like 03/04 are ambiguous; confirm against the statement.

Try your statement. Columnry reads the transactions in a text-based PDF statement or table – date, description, money in/out, balance – checks them against the running balance and exports Excel, CSV, OFX or QIF. It runs in your browser; the statement is not uploaded. Preview the whole file free and export page 1 (up to 20 rows); a 30-day pass is $9, lifetime $29.

Open the converter – free

Questions and answers

Why does the pasted text come out in the wrong order?

Some PDFs store text in drawing order, not reading order. A layout-based reader avoids this.

Can I copy from a scanned PDF?

No – there's no text to copy. You'd need OCR first.

Sources and product names: Microsoft Support: Split text into different columns with the Convert Text to Columns Wizard. Microsoft Excel and Power Query are trademarks of Microsoft; Google Sheets of Google; YNAB of You Need A Budget LLC. Columnry is independent and not affiliated with them.